Black Winters
by DayBreak15
Summary: "Hey look up at me," "Why the hell would I do that?" "So I can fix you up, thats why!" When Evie Winters (an adverage Muggle) is kidnapped by Death Eaters, Regulus Black (a newly made Death Eater) will try anything in his power to get her away from merciless Death Eaters and through this war alive. Possibly Cannon. Set during the First Wizarding War. Please R&R.
1. A Kidnapped Winters

**Hi, this is going to hopefully be my first multi-chapter fanfiction, I am terrible at fast updates due to other commitments but I promise that this story will not be abandoned.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, I just like to create stories about them.**

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She was in agony. Her arms patterned ebony and sapphire in bruises. Her once white summer dress was plastered to her left side with the slick scarlet liquid that poured continuously from the deep gash that trailed from beneath her rips to the top of her thigh. The cut on her waist made her whole body feel as though she was constantly being electrocuted, this caused her left leg to drag behind her as the men surrounding he small frame dragged her forward. She could feel her kidnappers hands still wrapped around her small, pale wrists, rubbed crimson from her futile attempts at escape. Her head was unbelievably sore and felt extremely heavy, whether it was due to her wavy blonde hair matting with sweat and blood or because of the throbbing bump on the back of her skull, she did not know. Her eyes felt heavy at the endeavour to stay conscious and her bottom lip stung, presumably from the slash gained when one of her kidnappers pointed something long and thin at her that caused stunningly blue light to flash at her, somehow managing to powerfully push her through her window into her family's living room mirror.

_It was the summer holidays and Evelyn Winters was due to start her sixth year at Almond Bridge Comprehensive School in three weeks. She was walking home from her father's bookshop when she first heard them. It was as she turned down the forest path that connected Ivy Street and her own road, Ebony Crescent that she first heard the footsteps. Her heart pounding, she stopped to listen and glance behind her. Silence. Wariness enclosed her she continued to walk, this time keeping her gaze locked on the emerald leaves that coated the forest's floor. She allowed her thick blonde hair to curtain her face, uncovering her ears and sure enough as soon as she had started walking the footsteps continued but this time they were shockingly closer. Fear exploded within her, trailing icy claws though her veins and freezing her brain. Whoever was behind her was clever as their pace matched hers perfectly minimising the sound of their approach, yet their footfalls were not light enough to prevent Eve from hearing them. Noticing this she picked up her pace. She could see her road mere metres away. That was when she heard her pursuers starting to run. And when she noticed there was more than one person pursuing her. She ran. The men behind her started to shout and chase her faster. From behind her came flashes of what appeared to be green and red fireworks that flew straight past her, one green firework only missing her by millimetres, on a normal occasion she would have been relieved at her luck but her brain had gone into lockdown. As she can off of the footpath an extreme feeling of relief washed over her and she stumbled towards her family's small house. For a second, as she reached her front door, the fear that had overtaken her every thought dulled slightly. That soon changed when she saw a flash of black reflected in her glass door. She turned to see what appeared to be five cloaked personifications of death. The middle Grim Reaper lifted his arm to reveal a long twig and with a flash of blue, she was knocked unconscious. _

It was after she had woken up she realised she was in an unfamiliar street with declining grey townhouses, though her gaze was still hazy from the battle her body had seemingly endured. "If I was as much of a rich bastard as that bloody Orion Black, I would be flaunting it instead of living in this shithole" Rasped the hooded figure to her left, "I mean the Blacks have as much money as the Malfoy's yet they're living here surrounded by filthy muggles!" _Muggles? What on earth were these people talking about?_ "Shut it Goyle!" came a gravelly voice behind her, "The Blacks have more influence than either you or I, and for the record if I was living above the Leaky with a whore I'd keep my mouth shut about others." From around her, Eve not only heard but felt the gravelly chuckles of her kidnappers. "Shut it Lestrange," came the first voice, _Goyle?_, anger evident in the way he spoke as well as in the way his grip tightened around her arm causing her arm to unconsciously twitch, triggering a sharp pain to stab at her side wound, "Talking of whores, what does Black want this little bitch for, anyway?" At this Eve's heart constricted, from the way these people were talking it sounded as though these men were all part of some exclusive gang or cult that she was sure she did _not _want to be part of. "Dunno," replied a new voice, "I believe that she's a gift to welcome in the newest Death Eater, I still cannot believe that the Dark Lord is letting Black's youngest to join after the older ones already a known bloodtraitor..." _Death Eater? Dark Lord? _Those words made her blood curdle but then as she thought back to what was just said her blood froze in outright horror, _gift? _She was going to be a _gift _for one of their sadistic gang members?! This was what she thought as she was pushed painfully through the ebony door of Number 12, Grimmauld Place.


	2. Of Death Eaters, Purebloods & Filth

If there was one thing Regulus hated more than disloyalty it was the way his drunken father was boasting about how _his _son was only seventeen and he was already helping the wizarding world by cleaning up the streets of Mudbloods, Bloodtraitors and 'blasted Muggle-filth'. Regulus was sat at the large dining room table trying to make himself appear as small as possible. The whole of 12 Grimmauld Place was bursting to the seams with Death Eaters and Dark Lord supporters that were all cramped inside. Just the thought of being a Death Eater caused his Dark Mark to itch. _This was probably why I was in Slytherin_ he thought as he stared blankly at the opposite wall, _I'm not like Sirius, I've never had the courage to stand up to what I believe in. _Hell, Regulus did not even know what he believed in. He joined the Death Eaters to make his family proud, he could not make up his mind whether what was being done by _Him _was wrong or not. All his life Regulus had grown up with the knowledge that pure-blood was supreme blood, but now he wasn't so sure.

"Reg, how come you're not joining in? This party is for you, you know" Regulus came crashing out of his thoughts and blinked up at the beak-bike nose of his old Slytherin ally and fellow Death Eater, Severus Snape. After staring for possibly to long at the greasy twenty year-old in front of him Regulus snapped completely back into reality, "I just think that my parents are making a bigger fuss out of all this than is strictly need." He replied, the truth was Regulus Black was the complete opposite of his brother, where Sirius was at home in the spotlight, Regulus hated it and right now he was right in the centre of it, as he was reminded every time his father ran into yet another guest. Snape sighed and sat next to the young Black, "At least your parents care about what you do, trust me it's more painful when they don't" Regulus felt a wave of guilt crash over him as he looked towards his friend, of course Snape was neglected by his parents how could he have forgotten? He was about to apologise when a piercing shriek echoed down into the dining room.

Orion Black stopped his boasting and walked over towards his son placing a fatherly hand on his soldier, this gesture was so foreign to Regulus that he automatically flinched. "Well my dear boy!" Though humiliated anger flashed across his father's steal gaze, Orion managed to keep up the smiling appearance, "It seems as though my gift for you has arrived, may I present to you your first victim: _Helpless Muggle Girl_!" With that a young girl was shoved into the room, many of the present Death Eaters jeered and cackled at the sight of her as she crumpled unceremoniously to the floor. Regulus could not believe it. He was beyond shock. He was livid. The girl was positively covered in bruises as well as caked in blood, the scarlet of it contrasting dramatically to her snowy skin. Her blonde hair was knotted with patches of dark red drizzling into her fringe. He turned to his father, "what do you _think _you are doing?" he whispered furiously. "Making sure you can handle it when the Dark Lord needs you present on a mission, trust me boy you'll need practice." His father growled back, his face suddenly turning into a sneer, "Plus, filth or not she _is _an attractive young woman I am sure one of the other men can find a use for her if you cannot." Regulus visibly gulped, whatever he would have to do to this girl would be ten times kinder than her fate if one of the others took care of her. "Fine, but if I have to kill the girl I would like to be able to do it in the privacy of my room." His father grinned down at him, though Regulus knew Orion wasn't a Death Eater he was just as merciless one sometimes, "Oh of course," Regulus took a deep breath and moved towards the girl, "But please do play around a bit with her first, if not it would be ever such a waste. I mean if it makes you feel better do it in the name of magic!" Regulus closed his eyes and ignored the cackles of laugher erupting around the room as he bent down to the girl, making sure to grab the least bruised piece of skin he could find before getting her to her feet and leading her towards the staircase.

* * *

She couldn't believe it. _She wouldn't believe it_. This was all just a really messed up nightmare and at any moment she will awake in her bed safe and sound.

She could hear the laughter and taunts aimed at her and feel the eyes of everyone in the room burning into the back of her head. Bring dropped onto her left side sent a fresh wave of pain crashing down on her, she stifled a cry into her arm she curled into a ball. "_Please do play around a bit with her first" _The words of who she presumed belonged to Orion Black, the man her kidnappers had been talking about, echoed in her mind. _This is not happening_. Then to her utter dismay she started to cry into her wrists. Yes she should be allowed to cry, but she did not want to show anymore weakness to these ruthless monsters that surrounded her. It was then that she felt a hand grip her upper arm, though not as rough a grip as Goyle and who she came to know as Dolohov, this touch still gave off a sense of authority and power. The hand then pulled her up; knowing this must be Black's son who she was a _gift _to Eve refused to meet his eyes. His grip still on her soldier her began to tug her towards the stairs, as she noticed this she whimpered and automatically buried her face into the stranger's neck. It was a response she had always used when she was upset, though the only person she would do it to was her father. A chill ran through her then but she did not have the courage to lift her head from the man's shoulder. This was a completely different experience to what usually warranted that response.

_She was five and one moment she was sat comfortably in the tree house her and her father had built the previous summer and the next she was sprawled across the grass –a massive bump to her head and her arm twisted at an unnatural angle. It was a cry of alarm that alerted her parents to the accident and they came rushing out of the house to check on their only child. Once Summer saw her daughter's broken arm she rushed back inside to collect her car keys to take Evie to the hospital. The scene got a different reaction from her father who quickly lifted her into his arms as she buried her wet face into his neck._

_The next time she was she was eight and it was after she'd had a nightmare about a horror film she'd accidently seen a scene from one night a few weeks ago and just like a superhero her father swooped into her room to comfort her. He joked around and hugged her to make her feel safe then she peacefully slept with her head on his soldier until the next day._

_When she was eleven she woke up to hear shouting coming from her parents room. Sneaking towards her parent's bedroom door she could hear them arguing, about what? She had no idea. That was the night she stayed with her father on the sofa and she rested her head on his soldier as they both cried about their future as a family. Of course her parents made up but it would be a night her mother still regretted._

_By fourteen the hugs between father and daughter became rare, but she made an exception when she heard he had to travel into London for a business for six nights. She hugged him and like always buried her head into the space between his neck and shoulder. "Come home safe, yeah dad?" she pleaded. He smile like normal and replied, "Oh course I will, I promise you My Evie." With that he kissed her on the head and walked out of the door. That was the only promise her father ever broke. By ten o'clock the next morning the police came round to break the news that Andrew Mark Winters was fatally wounded during a mugging attack, he'd never even made it to the station._

_The days that followed were some of the worst in Evelyn's memory. The only person who she could find comfort in when she was upset was the same person that she was mourning. Her mother tried her best to make her feel better but it was never the same as when her dad did it. It wasn't until a week later that she used the comfort of her father's shoulder for the last time as she hugged him one last time at his funeral service. During that hug she found comfort that the being inside the coffin was no longer her father and that her father was in a better place._

It wasn't until she brumped into him that she noticed that Black's son had stopped walking. She glanced up and saw that they were in a small landing area that only had two doors. Slowly she lifted her tear streaked face off the man's shoulder and look towards him for the first time. She was surprised at what she saw. She had imagined a twenty-something arrogant boy that would smirk at her and make snide remarks, but the person in front of her seem to only be about a year older than her, his age had to be around eighteen at the latest. For a boy his black hair was quite long, coming just bellow his chin and brushing into his shockingly blue eyes. The darkness of his hair contrasted fantastically to the paleness of his skin, his gorgeous bright eyes as well as his tall height just made him that extra bit more good looking. That was until she remembered what had previously happened that day causing her to rip her arm forcibly out of his grip, though she immediately regretted this action as it caused even more pain to spike down her side, making her grimace. The boy's eyes widened as he took in the gash down the side of her dress and the blood that ran out of it as she pulled away. Reaching behind him he pulled open the door on the right and it opened to what could only have been his room. "Inside" he demanded, hesitating before taking her arm again. When she didn't move towards him he sighed and rolled his eyes then looked down at her, with one hand still holding onto her upper arm, he lifted his spare hand and gentally placed it onto her shoulder, "Ok, you have the choice of coming into my room where I have the means to patch you up and where I swear I will not lay a finger on you unless it's to heal you, or I can leave you out here where you can get caught by one of those merciless animals downstairs and I'll have nothing more to do with you. Your choice." She threw him a curious glance then turned her head towards the shadowed staircase; even from the landing the sound of the other people was still clearly audible. "Erm," she croaked, her throat felt coarse either from bruising, thirst or lack of use. She swallowed some spit to help dampen it, "please don't attack and murder me. I have had the shittiest day in history and would love to wake up from this nightmare! Seriously, I have heard about Dark Eaters or whatnot, been shot at with fireworks, oh yeah, and I also had a load of crazy people beat me to give to you in the name of bloody magic!" and with that Evelyn Winters inhaled a great shuddering breath and promptly collapsed into the arms of a rather startled Regulus Black.


	3. Bruises & Magic

To say that Evelyn's head hurt would have been an understatement. It was absolutely killing! This was first thing she thought as consciousness slowly trickled back to her. She could feel a dull ache along the side she was sleeping on but as she turned over the pounding in her head was nothing compared to the stabbing sensation that ripped across her side. A sharp shriek of pain wrenched out of her mouth dragging her back to full consciousness. Then almost as suddenly as the pain struck, all that had happened to her over the last few hours crashed down on to her and she felt herself suffocating in the terrible memories, causing a pathetic sob to escape from her mouth. Slowly she repositioned herself so all her weight no longer pressed the seeping cut on her waist into the silky emerald sheets of the bed she found herself to be lying on. When this move proved to not cause her any further pain, Eve tentatively slithered into a sitting position with her back leaning against the headboard. After the physical and emotional pain had subsided Evelyn finally took note of her surroundings; though it was quite dark she could make out that she was in quite a spacious grey bedroom with a closed door on the opposite side of the room, which she noted seemed to be her only escape. What little light that was available seemed to be coming from an almost burnt out candlestick on the bedside table next to her, the minuscule flame did nothing but encourage the hostile feel that the room seemed to emit.

That was when she saw it. A small, dark shadow flickered in the corner eye. As she turned her head to get a better look at it, it disappeared with a deafening _CRACK! _Swivelling her head round to the place that the shadow and the noise had come from, she saw that nothing was there except a shadowy bookshelf. Clumsily, she fumbled through the top draw of the bedside table until she reached a box of matches as well as a fresh candle. Light dispersed around the room in a warm glow and suddenly the room no longer felt as threatening as it did before. After placing the candle onto the table, she noticed that what appeared to be charcoal grey walls were in fact painted a beautiful bottle green. As she looked around she saw that the same image seemed to be displayed on almost every surface: a silver serpent uncoiling inside a green shield, this looked to be some sort of team mascot as it was emblazed onto flags, jumpers and the scarves that draped over the bed, yet Evelyn did not recognise it as being from any English football teams that she knew of.

It was as she was taking all of this in she noticed that placed on the bookcase seemed to be various foreign instruments as well as a few elaborately decorated, silver photo frames. After carefully sliding her feet off of the bed and onto the luxurious carpet (green yet again), Eve cautiously stood up and made her way over to the wooden cabinet, cringing slightly at the stickiness of her once best dress against her beaten skin. Yet another gasp flew from her cut lips when she reached the shelves to find that the photographs inside all of the photo frames were moving.

"Guess this might come as a pretty big surprise to you." She swivelled round to see the handsome dark haired boy she had met earlier leaning casually against the frame of the now open door. "Then again I never took Muggle Studies so I don't really know what you would be used to and what would make you feel as though you've lost the plot."

* * *

Regulus was feeling anxious, it had been two hours since the muggle girl had collapsed in his arms and she still hadn't woken up yet. After she had quite unceremoniously landed on him, he quickly scooped her up and carried her into his room and placed her gently down onto his bed. He quickly thought against trying to cure her injuries using his wand as he was terrible at healing spells and decided against covering the cuts and bruises with greyish green clay-like substance of _Madame Katrina's Healing Ointment_. After all if she woke up and he was rubbing cream into her skin her opinion of him would get ten times worse than it already was. So after careful consideration he thought it would be best to just leave her but not before asking Kreature to keep an eye on the girl and to tell him if she woke up. So instead he drifted down one flight of stairs to the Library so he was a respectable distance away from her when she woke up but still far away from his father as he gushed about pureblood mania.

It was as he was just placing _The Dangers of Werewolf, Muggle & Wizard Breeding_ when a sharp _CRACK! _announced the arrival of his truest and oldest friend. "Master Regulus," Kreature gave a low bow that caused his nose to rub against the floor and both of his ears to flap widely, like a bat trapped in a cave, "the Mudblood girl is awake, I's think she has not seen Kreature. Kreature was still as statue and quiet as mouse. Mudblood girl looked ill and gave off loud high noise but Kreature placed silencing charm on Master's room." Regulus felt strong relief crash upon him that the Muggle girl had awoken but tried to dampen it as he remembered that she was a Mudblood. "Thank you Kreature, you can go back to your chores." Regulus offered the house-elf a genuine smile before Kreature disappeared with another _CRACK! _He then proceeded to rush up the stairs to his bedroom, as he reached the door he quietly pushed it open and let himself into the room.

* * *

"Nah ah ah, _you _can stay away from me! Far far away from me!" To say that Evie was pissed would be an understatement, she was fuming. Was it not enough that she was brutally attacked by a large group of men, then kidnapped, then laughed at and mocked, to be presented to a bloody arrogant prat, who then proceeded to dump her on a bed, leave, then come back to mock her! Could he not see that taking even _one more _step towards her would end with him having the candle, that she still held in her hand, shoved up his pompous arse! "As I have previously mentioned to you I have had a really shitty day that started off with mouthy customers, then led to being kidnapped and has seemingly concluded with you giving me some kind of hallucinogenic that makes me feel as though I have just been swept up in a tornado and landed in Oz!"

Regulus halted his movements towards her and held up both his hands in surrender, instantly regretting that he had forgot to take his wand when he sprinted from the library, at least if he had it he could stop the bloody candle wielding lunatic in front of him. "Look I honestly do not have any intentions on harming you in any way what so ever. I sincerely apologise on behalf of my family as they do not take kindly to Mud-Muggles like yourselves, and I promise you, you fainted out of exhaustion not due to any kind of potion." He watched as a flicker of trust flashed across the Muggles face and she slowly began to lower the candle onto his desk. "Oh, and another thing, I have absolutely no idea what the tornado and Oz referred to" She gave a short laugh of disbelief and raised her eyebrows, "you've never heard of the _Wizard of Oz_? Ever?" Regulus himself was beyond confused, "Well I know Osbourne Nott, he was a big supporter of Grindelwald back in the day, was completely for blood purity – well that was before Dumbledore st-" He broke off as he saw his earlier confusion reflected in the face of the girl in front of him, "But of course, you're a muggle, you would have absolutely no idea what I am talking about..."

After a moment or two of awkward silence Evie decided to speak up, "Well in all honesty I haven't got any idea what you just said and as well as that, what on god's earth is a _Muggle_?" The boy in front of her stared at her in disbelief and instantly Eve felt stupid for even asking though in all honesty she had no idea what it meant. It was after a few seconds of awkwardness on her behalf and disbelief on his that he final answered, "You know what a wizard is but you have no idea what a muggle is?" Eve nodded unsure of where this was going, after all for all she knew he was part of the cult downstairs that wanted to injure and kill her, "Well I always heard that muggles were a bit dim...You are a Muggle, Muggles are beings without any magic in their blood." And once again Evie was plunged into the pit of confusion only this time she felt the chill of fear sneak in the cavern to join it. For a blissful moment or two Eve had not been worried about getting killed or tortured as the boy in front of her seemed genuine in his attempts to assure her of that fact, but now as he started to talk about magic Eve was frightened. After all the men downstairs who had beaten and kidnapped her had been talking about magic and _Orion Black _(if that was his name) had told his son, the boy in front of her, to kill her in the name of magic. _Oh god_, she thought, _am I going to be some kind of sacrifice for a pagan cult? _It was as she was saying this that the pale, dark haired boy took a step towards her which caused her to instantly reach for the candle that was still burning on the extravagantly carved, ancient desk on her left. Up until that moment Eve had forgotten about the cut on her side but due to the sudden movement the seeping gash sliced open causing her to sharply inhale and reflexively drop the candle to press her hand to her side to futilely stop the blood flow. As the candle hit the ground the flame caught the carpet and slowly started to spread.

As Regulus saw the flames that started to ignite a small section of the carpet, he instinctively reached for his wand and after remembering leaving it in the library he concentrated on the fire and muttered "_Aguamenti_" and to his surprise a stream of water appeared out of nowhere to put out the fire leaving behind a damp black patch on his otherwise pristine carpet. It to Regulus a moment to get over the astonishment of his successful attempt at wandless magic but a second later a small scarlet drop appeared on the burn and he looked up to see the girl staring wide eyed at him, fresh blood pouring from her side.

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**Sorry for such a long wait I haven't had any time to post this chapter, the next one should be up much sooner. Would like to say thank you to those who have favourited/followed this story, it means a lot! Also thanks to those who have reviewed I will try to make the chapters longer in the future!**

**:)**


	4. Venomous Whispers

She was going insane. The bleeding gash in her side must have been so unimaginably painful that she was hallucinating because quite honestly she'd be bloody terrified if there was an alternate explanation. There was no such thing as _magic._ That she was certain of. Hell if there was magic surely people would _know _about it.

She was dazed – whether from the ache that was still splitting her head, the fumes from the small fire that she had caused or the small magic show she had just observed, she was unsure. Her head was rolled up so she faced the ceiling as she was sat n on the silky sheets of Black's son's bed, her back leaning against the wall. With his arms crossed and back against the bookshelf, the owner of the bed watched her in silence, a slight frown creasing his forehead.

"So," her voice, though almost a whisper, hit their ears like a car crashing into a brick wall, "You can make fire appear, that is one pretty amazing trick. Completely terrifying and impossible but pretty cool all the same. Her eyes met his and she attempted to give him a small nervous smile, "That is unless I am going mental and just imagined that which is, of course, also a possibility."

She saw the boy – young adult, shift his position so he was no longer supporting himself against the wooden bookcase, "Like I have said already I don't know how you'd react or even what you know of magic as I _never _considered taking Muggle Studies at Hogwarts, but trust me conjuring up some water is nothing to be '_terrified_' of, in fact I'm pretty sure it save your life after you tried burning down my house" Ok, fair enough she did drop the candle. This time her lips twisted into a sheepish smile, doing this made them made the cut in it tingle slightly.

"I'm sorry but I have no idea half what you're talking about and half of what you just said went over my head but I can promise you this I am still processing the whole magic is real thing that has just been sprung on me." And with that they both once again fell into a slightly awkward silence.

* * *

They stayed like that for a while, both of them trying to figure out what the other was thinking about doing next. Regulus could hear the rumbling sounds of the many people talking loudly at once trickle up though the many floorboards separating his room from where the party was being held downstairs. He could hear the faint cackling laugh of his Cousin Bella along with the gruff snickers of her fellow Death Eaters, Regulus dreaded to find out what the cause of their entertainment was.

After a few more ticks of the grandfather clock placed in the corner of his room Regulus decided that he had had enough of the unpleasant silence. "Do you want me to help heal your side?" The sound of his voice seemingly caused the girl to be jerked from her thoughts as her attention was whipped towards him, confusion evident in her face. "Look I can tell that it's hurting a lot by the way your face scrunches up and you squirm whenever you shift into a new position. I can also tell you that I know from experience how irritating wet clothes can be on open skin. Besides if you'd rather think of me as a heartless villain then feel free to believe that my motive for helping is that the more time you spend squirming on my bedcovers, the more your filthy non-magical blood is staining them. There, you happy with that?" He raised his eyebrows inquiringly.

Regulus could not tell what went through the girls mind as he was saying this as her expression seemed to change with every heartbeat finally she seemed to settled to glare at him in confusion and hatred. "I why should I trust you to come anywhere near me?" Regulus was taken aback as the replied venomously. Her voice gravelly due to lack of moisture caused Regulus to forget who the most powerful would be if they came to a fight. "Seriously? You've just put out a bloody fire with your _mind_!" She reminded him causing him to cringe slightly, looks like she isn't going to let him help without a fight after all.

He took a hesitant step forward watching the beaten girl cautiously, _this is fucking ridiculous _he thought as her took yet another step _she's a muggle for crying out loud, and not only that an injured one. What the hell can she possibly do to me?_ Still Regulus thought that caution was for the best and as the harshness in the girls eyes softened he took that as his cue to walk over to the bed to perch down at the edge of it. The muggle cast him one last weary look before setting her head back to one more stare lazily up at the ceiling.

Being this close to her when she was being civil was a first for him and he used it to properly take in the extent of her injuries, her skin patched so badly in bruised in places and an unnatural bluish white from blood loss that he could not tell what her natural skin colour would have been. The blood that was still trickling from her side had dyed her dress scarlet and was now dripping slightly onto the green silk beneath her frail frame. Regulus could tell from the slight splatter of red on the wall visible behind her matted dishwater hair that she also had a pretty serious injury to her head. Even though her could see how beaten and terrified (though she hid it well) she truly was, Regulus couldn't help but feel thankful that she was able to talk and move. After all he knew what Rodolphus Lestrange was capable of and the girl in front of him was lucky to only receive what she had got. Lestrange was known for favouring the Cruciatus curse when faced with anyone, magical or muggle, but from the genuine surprise look on her face when he used magic to put out the fire, it seemed she was spared it.

* * *

Evelyn was starting to get _very _uncomfortable. She could feel the older boy's eyes on her as she tried to wake herself up from the nightmare that she had definitely fallen into. He had been staring at her for ten minutes now and the belief that he was going to attack her, that had dulled slightly when they were speaking earlier, had come back in fall force.

"Hey look at me," Once again his voice startled her causing her to jump back. A blinding pain struck though her skull as her head collided painfully with the wall behind her. For a second the world was spinning and she could feel warm trickle of thick liquid run down her neck. But this time instead of the pain causing her to go weak it just inspired her to be the biggest bitch possible to the person whose fault her whole situation was.

"Why the hell would I do that?" she spat at him. Though her vision blurred as the pain at the back of her head increase, she could see as the boy rolled his eyes in exasperation. He then muttered something under his breath before turning his ultramarine orbs to her once again.

His eyes were narrowing in annoyance and he took a deep breath before continuing, Evie thought that this was most likely to stop him from punching her in the face. "Look, I think you are being completely unreasonable, I honestly can't see what the problem is!" Unreasonable? Was she, Evelyn Summer Winters, being _unreasonable_ for not letting some weird cult kid get anywhere _near _her injuries? She thought not. Slowly she narrowed her own eyes to mirror his expression; he was a hypocrite for thinking that _she_ was being the unreasonable one!

"Wait a minute _sunshine-_" The teen seemed genuinely surprised to hear her address him like this, his eyes widened slightly before turning once more into a glare. "-I don't know who the hell you think you are, or even what you are, Gandalf, but I _can_ tell you what you are definitely _not _going to be doing and that is getting anywhere near my cuts. And you know why that is? Because your father is fucking insane! No offence – actually screw that – offence should be taken here, because he set a load of hooded _twats_ on my case to beat me up then drag me to your feet. You must be a high as a flaming kite if you think that I want you within a five mile radius of me!"

At this he huffed and leaned forward, gripping her arm once again only this time he allowed his nails to bite painfully into her damaged skin. Lowering his head with dangerously narrowed eyes, he put his mouth against her ear, "I am so sorry _princess_ but I think you have forgotten _exactly _where you are, so I am going to remind you; you are in _my _house; on _my _bed; with _my _insane father downstairs so how about for once tonight you actually let me do what's best for not only me but you as well." Slowly he pulled back to glare down at her and Evie had to admit that though the Death _Whatsits_ were frightening and they beat her up pretty badly, the boy that was sat next to her on the bed terrified her even more. Because even though there were more of them she knew that they had a reason for keeping her alive, yet _he _did not and she was completely at his mercy. And for the hundredth time that night, though she hated to also admit it, Evie Winters was in tears.

* * *

He felt guilty. Looking down at the slowly weeping girl regret washed over Regulus.

Gently he allowed his fingers to loosen then drop from the muggle's arm to find that small grooves from his nails was dotted midway down her patched black and indigo arm.

Never before had Regulus felt more like a Death Eater.

Tenderly he cupped her face slowly forcing her head up to look him in the eye, he was startled by her sparkling hazel eyes, "I am so sorry," he whispered whilst caressing her cheek, "Look that was completely uncalled for and I understand if you don't trust me but my intentions are purely to heal you then get you out of here as soon as I can, please believe that. I really shouldn't have lost my temper but you're not the only one who has had – how did you put it? – _a really shitty day_?" That got a tiny smile out of the girl though she quickly stopped as it strained her healing lip.

"Fine," The girl's voice seemed to crack slightly as she sniffed the last of her tears away, though noticing this she cleared her throat and continued in a much stronger voice, "you can do whatever Hocus Pocus you want as long as it means that I can get out of this place as soon as possible."

And after extracting a promise from her that she would not make any noise or leave the room, Regulus raced out of his bedroom to retrieve his wand and the bottle of healing ointment. He just hoped that his father wouldn't come to his room anytime soon to see what Regulus had done with _Helpless Muggle Girl_ because honestly he didn't have it in his heart to murder her.

* * *

**I am yet again not entirely happy with this chapter and also apologise that I have not been able to make it any longer than the others though I will definitely ****_try _****to in the future. Once again I am up writing at an ungodly hour so please correct me of any mistakes and continunity errors. I promise that in the next chapter Regulus and Evie will have some bonding time without any injuries or hostility between the pair of them ;)**


	5. From Healing to Home

Evelyn Winters for the first time that night was not scared shitless, she wasn't happy but she was definitely getting there. Boy-Wizard had been brilliant. Slowly she was getting used to the idea of magic but was beginning to warm up to it as Boy-Wizard healed all of her cuts and gashes from her bumped and cracked head to the deep split in her side. When he came back into the room he was holding a hand-sized pot of light green liquid as well as a long twig, almost identical to those of her capturers, which she could only assume was his wand.

"What's that?" she asked nodding towards his hands. He raised an eyebrow and walked towards her.

"This is a wand," he spoke slowly as though he were speaking to someone with brain damage, "it's what wizards carry to do magic with. With this," he gestured towards the wand, "I will be able to heal your more serious injuries." Evie scowled, she hated that at the moment the boy in front of her knew more about this new strange world than she ever would. "Now do exactly as I say and you will be fine."

After that Boy-Wizard moved his wand slowly over her broken skin, muttering incantations under his breath that caused her cuts and grazes to heal to what appeared to be thin old scars. Throughout the entire process Boy-Wizard's complete attention was on her seeping injuries, his brow furrowed in concentration. The only time he spoke was when he had reached her head, "I am weary about healing it but I will give it a go." His voice had shocked her; they had sat in a peaceful silence for almost a hour so his voice was like glass shattering in a cave.

"Wh-what's wrong?" She stuttered, her throat still dry due to growing dehydration. "What are you so worried about?"

His' eyebrows were still furrowed as he examined the back of her head, by now his face was just a hairs width away from hers. "Just hold still." He shifted even closer to her, raising his hand to move hair out of the cut, "I have never healed a head injury before, the head is more complex than arms or the side, I don't want to accidentally damage it further." Though this statement should have terrified Evie she remained ridiculously calm.

"So what's your name?" Boy-Wizard softly questioned as his fingers gently combed through her hair. She was about to reply when a sudden gasp of pain escaped her as his fingers accidentally grazed across her cracked head injury; he muttered an apology into her ear that caused her to shiver. She gulped in a breath before replying "Evelyn... Evie Winters" she rasped and once again cringed in embarrassment and pain. Boy-Wizard quirked his lips up into a smile that lit up his whole face, "That's a lovely name, we had a Pegasus in Care of Magical Creatures called Evelina in our seventh year at school come to think of it you kind of remind me of her, stubborn and easily caught up in trouble."

Evie frowned, "I've only just met you so how on Earth could you possibly know if I'm stubborn or not, and I can truthfully say that this is the first, and hopefully only, time in my life where I have been _kidnapped_." The blue-eyed teen did nothing but smirk and directed his attention back to her head. In the silence that followed her she could hear the deep cackles of the murders that roamed bellow them.

"Regulus" The name slipped from his mouth so quietly and smoothly that it took a moment for Eve to understand what the boy had just said. Before she could question it she felt a warm trail trickle from the top of her head, down her neck. There was a flash of blinding pain that felt as though her skull was being split in two though this was quickly soothed. "There, do you feel alright now?" Boy-Wizard gazed down at her, concern etched across his face.

She reached up a hand cautiously to brush her fingers along the back of her head; she narrowed her eyes to prepare for the pain that surprisingly did not come. She blinked with her mouth agape for a beat or two before replying, "Yeah, yeah it's fine." She removed her hand and turned her head to the side to face him. He seemed caught by surprise as she stared at him but that did not stop her gaze from subconsciously flickering down to his red lips.

Suddenly jumped to his feet as though she had stabbed him and Evie's gazed snapped towards the wall on the far side of the room. She could feel the burn creep into her cheeks and trail down her neck. "Well I'd better see if there's any possible way to get you out of here, then you can-" he drifted off and spun towards the door, not looking back at Evelyn once.

"Yeah okay."

Regulus leaned against the door, his eyes squeezed shut. He had to leave, he couldn't help it. One moment the muggle girl was glaring at him and the next she was starting at him like _that_. And the worst thing? He _wanted _her to look at him like that because that look promised so much more.

Calming, he dragged his feet down the stairs to the main hallway. He quickly skirted into the shadows when he saw two witches stalk down from the kitchen but they quickly turned into the living room, other than that the hallway was deserted. Quietly he ran back up the stairs, cringing slightly when the first step on the second floor gave an obnoxious screech. When he reached the top landing he paused with his hand on the door to glance at the closed door of Sirius' room. _Sirius you would not believe what I'm about to do for a muggle_, he thought before pushing the door open. "Right Muggle, here's what's going to happen..."

If Evelyn Winters was surprised by Boy-Wizard she was even more surprised by the short ugly thing that appeared before her and thrust it's slimy grey hand into hers. When she saw it flash out of nowhere to stand between her and the dark haired boy she shrieked but the sound was quickly swallowed when she felt wind rush at her face, flinging her hair behind her. She felt her stomach drop, the floor get ripped from under her own feet as the bedroom started to swirl into darkness before her eyes. As soon as it had come, the uncomfortable feelings stopped as the surrounding came back into focus. Evie blinked. Before her was not the elegant dark wood and greens of Regulus' bedroom but the warm reds of her Father's – no _her _– shop. _Winter's Night Antic Books and Objects _was just as she had left it - locked up and dark, _so how on Earth had they ended up there?_ It was at that moment that Eve realised she was still gripping the hand of the little grey thing and quickly dropped it to stare down at the being. She narrowed her eyes as she took in his scared hands and dirty clothes (if you could even call it clothes) that was made of what appeared to be an old pillowcase.

"I don't mean to be rude but what are you?" She said narrowing her eyes to examine it closer. The thing met her gaze with a glare filled of hot anger.

"The filthy little Muggle dares to ask Kreature questions? Oh the shame! Though Master Regulus has asked Kreature to be kind to the brat and Kreature respects his Master's wishes..." The being muttered under its breath, it's eyes fixed onto Eve's.

"Kreature please be quiet," came the soft voice that Evie had come to recognise, "We need to make sure the Death Eaters don't know she's escaped or Father would see to it that she would die." Eve turned to see Regulus stood behind her his black and emerald suit not looking misplaced among the shelves of ancient objects and leather-bound books. "_I _need to make sure that she doesn't die."

**Hi Readers, just wanted to say so sorry for the long wait between this chapter and the last I have had the busiest first term of school ever. Though as it is now the autumn break I should be able to have the next chapter up and posted within the next few weeks. Thanks to anyone/everyone who has favourite/followed/review it truly means the world!**

**DayBreak x**


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